The kind of players we want

KL Judo Club is a private initiative to build up strong competitors in the sport of judo. Most of our members are serious about competition. A handful are not into competition for a variety of reasons and that's ok as long as they have the right attitude and spirit.

I've trained at various judo clubs around the world and I know what I like and don't like in a club. I told myself if I'm ever in a position to coach a judo club, I would shape it in my vision and make no compromises.

My collaborator in this endeavour, who is also the team manager, shares that vision and we see eye to eye on how we want the club to be. Basically, KL Judo is the place for players who want to excel in competition-style judo.

It is not the place for players who want to excel in kata. There are plenty of other places that can provide for that. It is also not the place for those who are looking for easy grading opportunities to get belt promotions. Our belt gradings will be the toughest in the country. If a player's intention is to get colored belts fast, they'd be better off going somewhere else.

We like players who are committed to excellence. A big part of that involves regular training and doing lots of randori.

Players who like to parachute in once in a while and disappear for some time only to parachute in again some time later are not the kind of players we want at KL Judo. They will not be able to master any proper skills. As such, they are of no value to other players in the club as they don't make for good training partners. There are many clubs who welcome parachute players. We don't.

In many of the good clubs I've been to around the world, players rush to grab a partner during randori session. They want to get in as many randoris as possible. In contrast, I've also been to clubs where players like to give excuses not to do randori. You'll hear everything from "I've got to rush off to a dinner soon" to "I'm too tired" to "No more randori for me tonight".

If anybody utters such words at KL Judo, I will ask them to leave the club immediately. If you are on the mat at KL Judo, you are there to train. Otherwise go home.

Taking such a strict approach means that we will turn off many players, especially who just want to take it easy. But we are not an easy judo club. We are a hard judo club. I'll take quality over quantity anytime. There is no point having 30 soft players who can't take hard training. I'd rather have 3 serious players who will push themselves to the the max.

We are not in this for the money so we won't hesitate to turn away players who are not serious. We are here to produce champions.

Anyone who has trained at KL Judo will know that our training is different from what you'll find in other clubs in Malaysia. We don't do traditional judo. We don't emphasize uchikomi. Rather, we do lots of nagekomi but on crash pads. We believe in drills. We believe in conditioning. We believe in grip fighting. We believe in strategy. We emphasize newaza and lots and lots and lots of randori.

Whether our approach is effective is something that will be seen a year from now. The proof of the pudding is in the tasting so let's see how our players perform in 12 months, which is just the right amount of time we need to get our players to a level where they can do well in competitions.

Some clubs welcome everyone, including parachute players and those who try to avoid randori. At KL Judo, no wimps need apply. Seriously, if you are not prepared to train hard, don't come to KL Judo. We are a competition-oriented club and we make no apologies for that.